By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
The demand for nurses has been consistent over the years. In a presentation to the Barton Community College Board of Trustees last week, Barton Director of Nursing Education Renae Skelton stated the workforce need for Registered Nurses (RN) is expected to grow six percent from now until 2032.
Offering practical and associate degree programs for nursing, Barton had a pass rate of 83% for their students enrolled in their associate nursing program in 2021. Skelton said some fine-tuning of their student selection process was warranted.
"We took a long, hard look at all aspects of the nursing student," said Skelton. "Who were we letting in? What were their GPAs? We developed a formula where each candidate gets a score. We look at their GPA
In 2023, the college had a pass rate of 96% from students following the associate path. Barton orchestrates associate degree in nursing programs both on their campus in Great Bend and at Pratt Community College. Clinicals for the students are conducted at a variety of locations. Skelton said many nursing students are those looking for a career change
"Some students who take a lot of their prerequisites in high school, are ready to come in right out of high school," said Skelton. "I would say that's not the majority. The majority are people coming back. They've been out of school for a couple of years. They didn't know what they really wanted to do. Also we get those non-traditional students that are coming back at age 25 or 30 for their career."
In Skelton’s presentation, she mentioned the median pay for an RN is $81,220 per year.